Scott Swanson
Lots of topics were on the table for the South Santiam Community Forest Corridor Project Team last week, but mail delivery problems for Cascadia residents was at the top of the list at a meeting in Sweet Home.
The group, which was established last year by Gov. John Kitzhaber as part of the Oregon Solutions program, is made up of representatives from multiple federal, state and local government agencies, private business and community members, and academics, who have been tasked with creating a community forest between Sweet Home and Cascadia.
The full team gathers every couple of months to discuss ways of meeting the challenges associated with creating a working forest element of the community forest that would provide economically viable options for the local community, environmental and wildlife challenges, and more.
Progress is being made over a wide range of projects related to the establishment of a working community forest east of Sweet Home, team members reported as they met Thursday afternoon, Aug. 15, at the Community Center to discuss various issues related to the proposed forest.
A primary topic on Thursday was the postal delivery situation in Cascadia, where many residents are not getting home delivery and have to drive to Foster to get their mail at the Post Office.
Two U.S. Postal Service representatives were at the meeting to discuss possible solutions for Cascadia.
Ron Schaer, marketing manager for the Portland District, which includes Sweet Home, said one option is a Village Post Office, a new program that offers basic Post Office services in an existing business or other entity – “it could even be in a private residence,” he said.
The proprietor would simply contract with the Post Office to sell stamps, mail parcels and, possibly, provide post office boxes. Operating hours are at the discretion of the proprietor.
“A lot of communities have village post offices in libraries,” he said. “Basically, all you need is an area where customers can come in.”
Schaer and a colleague, Clackamas Postmaster Becky Robson, who has assumed managerial oversight that includes the Sweet Home area, took a tour of Cascadia on Thursday before the meeting, with June Chada of Sen. Ron Wyden’s office and Dan Whelan, an aide to Sen. Jeff Merkley, who have been working to bring a post office to Cascadia.
Whelan said he believed it was “incredibly important” for the USPS representatives to get a chance to see the situation first-hand.
“When we call them in Portland, they’ll have been here and know what we’re talking about.”
Schaer said post office boxes or clusters of mailboxes could be located at the village post office, or at some other location. Those would be serviced by a Post Office employee or by a contract carrier.
He noted that if delivery were expanded in Cascadia, customers who want a post office box in Foster would have to pay for their boxes if home delivery were available to them.
Cascadia residents and Community Forest team members agree that the community needs a place to gather, and that the Post Office that burned down in November of 2011 served that purpose.
Suggested locations for a village post office have included a proposed visitors center that may be located at Short Bridge, the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District building east of Cascadia State Park, Riverbend County Park or Cascadia State Park.
Whelan and Chada said they’ve heard from community residents, who have made clear what the difficulties are with the current system.
“People who communicate with our offices say it’s dangerous and difficult,” Whelan said of the trip on Highway 20 to and from the Foster Post Office, adding that the conversations have provided “a good opportunity for creative solutions to look at solving this problem.”
Whelan and Chada said they will work with postal representatives to develop a solution and will keep the group informed of their progress.
Also during the afternoon, the participants discussed the progress of work toward transferring Cascadia Cave from private ownership to public control and protection by the U.S. Forest Service through a possible land swap between Cascade Timber Consulting and a government land manager, possibly the Bureau of Land Management. The group discussed a variety of parcels, noting that the process will likely take 2½ to three years.
It also heard from Linn County Parks and Recreation Director Brian Carroll regarding applications for grant funds and assistance to create trails in the area.
Sweet Home District Ranger Cindy Glick and Thomas Maness of Oregon State University’s College of Forestry regarding OSU’s interest in creating a Working Forest Institute that would involve numerous faculty and students, who would help create and manage a working forest using cutting-edge science.
The team is scheduled to meet again Monday, Oct. 28, possibly again in Sweet Home.